Cultural and Psychosocial Aspects of Disability



MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF REHABILITATION COUNSELING

REHB 565: Cultural and Psychosocial Aspects of Disability

Spring 08

Michael Kiener, Ph.D., CRC Tuesdays

Office Phone 314-529-9443 4:00pm-6:45pm

Room Kern 3129 Office: AB Academic Center 1221

Office Hours: TBA& by appointment mkiener@maryville.edu

Mission Statement: School of Health Professions

The mission of the Maryville University School of Health Professions is to prepare a diverse student body with the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to become caring and competent health care professionals who will continue their personal and professional development throughout their practice. Through a liberal arts foundation and through strong partnerships, both internally within the university and externally in the greater St. Louis community, faculty and staff work collaboratively to enable students to become critical thinkers as well as collaborative, productive and civil members of society and leaders within their profession.

Goals of the School of Health Professions

The goals of the School of Health Professions are:

1) To develop partnerships which will:

a) Foster a sense of moral responsibility and cultural consciousness in students that prepares them to provide appropriate services to diverse populations.

b) Provide opportunities for faculty development to enhance educational effectiveness, scholarly work and professional competence.

c) Provide students with opportunities for interdisciplinary and international study.

d) Encourage and support the development and implementation of educational programs and other opportunities to meet the needs of a diverse student body and the health care needs of a changing world.

2) As programs within the School, work individually and collaboratively to support the goal of the integration of liberal and professional learning as valued by the Maryville University community.

3) As programs within the School and university, work individually and collaboratively to be creative and fiscally responsible in our endeavors.

4) As programs within the School and university, work collaboratively in the development of a health promotion center to serve not only the community-at-large, but which would also provide research and clinical facilities for faculty and student work.

Rehabilitation Counseling Program Mission Statement

Consistent with the mission of Maryville University, the graduate program in Rehabilitation Counseling provides a quality professional education that serves the community.

This program is designed to educate an individual to become a professional counselor committed

to assisting the person in achieving equal access, inclusion in society, meaningful work and independent living with quality of life. The rehabilitation counselor believes that individuals with disability represent a major resource for the betterment of society.

The profession of rehabilitation counseling primarily serves individuals with disabilities through counseling to build on their strengths to achieve quality of life through work and independent living in the community. The rehabilitation counselor is committed to working with persons with disabilities including physical, psychological, substance abuse, developmental, behavioral and cognitive.  The rehabilitation counselor is prepared to work in a variety of settings, such as state rehabilitation agencies, hospitals, psychiatric facilities, substance abuse programs, schools, universities, colleges, criminal justice programs, community agencies, mental health clinics, independent living centers, nursing homes, group homes, insurance companies, and private industry including employee assistance programs and private practice.   

Program Objectives—specific to this course

To challenge the student to examine personal and societal attitudes toward disability and appreciate the role of advocacy

To develop an understanding and skills to achieve a multicultural perspective to counseling

To develop sound professional counselors committed to life long learning

Course Description

This course provides an opportunity for the study of the social and cultural issues affecting the individual with disabilities. The course will examine family dynamics, multicultural issues, developmental stages and other psychosocial aspects of the individual. Particular attention is given as to how these factors influence perceptions and reactions to disability.

Student Outcome

• The student will better understand the dynamics of development for the individual and the family system.

• The student will learn various cultural perspectives on disability.

• The student will achieve a better understanding of the impact of disability on the individual.

• The student will develop an awareness of society’s attitudes and practices that define handicapping conditions.

• The student will be able to apply a psychosocial and multicultural awareness to assist in understanding the individual with disabilities.

• The student will better understand qualitative research and demonstrate qualitative techniques that will enhance their counseling ability.

Texts

Smart, J. S. (2001). Disability, society, and the individual. Maryland: Aspen Publishers.

Whitaker, R. (2002). Mad in america bad science, bad medicine, and the enduring mistreatment of the mentally ill. Cambridge: Perseus Publishing.

Desire2Learn

To access Desire2Learn go to

Enter your ID number and then your password—same as your Maryville email.

Then click on the link for this class.

Teaching/Learning Methods

The learning experiences will be based on didactic presentations (by the instructor), discussions, small group exercises, role-plays, videotape viewings, out-of-class readings, and writing assignments.  The instructor will utilize an adult learning approach whereby students will draw from the strength of their own life experiences to organize and analyze information presented in the course. Class participants are encouraged to ask questions and share personal experiences, when appropriate.  Mutual respect and confidentiality will be the norm in this course.

Methods of Evaluation

Students will be evaluated according to class attendance/participation and class writing assignments.  The following scheme provides guidelines in the weights for each measure of student performance:

Learning Performance Due Date Points Possible

Attendance/Class Participation/Pre-quiz question Semester long 10 points

Service Learning Paper outline 2.12.08 5 points

Service Learning 3.5-4.16.08 35 points

Portfolio 4.1.08 20 points

Journaling/observation/interview

Service learning paper due one wk before project 30 points

Total Points: 100 points

Written work will be assessed for APA style writing, and content. In addition, all written work should have multiple references to add to the creditability of the work. It is advised not to use .com sites as references. Final grades will be based on a simple point system (90-100 of the point total equals an "A," 80-89 equals a “B,” 70-79 equals a “C,” and anything less than 70 equals an “F”).

Active Participation: I expect everyone to attend each class. This is a discussion-based class in which all of us will be very actively involved with the material and each other. I anticipate and expect that everyone will have read and thought about all assigned readings before each class so that full class participation can be achieved. In addition to your active participation and attendance, pre-quizzes will be used to assess participation. Pre-quizzes are informal questions posted on D2L and are designed to keep students engaged in their learning throughout the semester. Each student will be required to develop one pre-quiz question (10/100 points).

Portfolio: To master the portfolio assignment, you will complete a semester long journal, at least two observations (one observation will be of a toy or card store, and the other will be another student’s service learning project), and an interview (one person two interviews). The intent of the portfolio is to have an opportunity to qualitatively examine culture and disability. Your last entry will be a description of the theme of your portfolio (20/100).

Toy or card store observation: During the course of the semester you will visit a toy or a card store and observe and describe what you see. You should observe the store with a Rehabilitation Counseling theme in mind. Describe your experience as a journal entry.

Service Learning: During the course of the semester you will participate in at least one service learning activity that you develop. It will have a rehabilitation focus and directly impact the Maryville community. Examples could include doing a presentation for a student organization, developing a program for the Academic Success Center, the office of Multiculturalism, your practicum, or for another discipline. In addition, you will write a short summary of your service and discuss/reflect on what you learned (35/100 points).

Service learning paper outline: The outline will be the start of your service learning project. Each student will pick a topic from class or another topic that is approved by the instructor and develop an outline of how it relates to this class. The topic you chose will be the focus of your service learning project. The outline will include the theme/purpose of your project and a brief literature review of your project (5/100points).

Service learning paper: Mastering the proposal will require each student to pick a topic from class or another topic that is approved by the instructor and develop a detailed project of how it relates to disability and society. This assignment is intentionally open-ended so that you can develop an area of personal interest. There is no specific length of the paper; if you honestly answer the questions the length will be justified. The paper should be double-spaced and type written with peer reviewed references in APA style. A minimum of ten journal references are required (no use of .com sites). Ten points are deducted for poor spelling and grammar (30/100).

It is important for each student to understand that assignments, in part, are intended to help the instructor gauge the student’s learning. One way to evaluate this is to examine how well the student integrates readings, class discussions, and other materials (e.g., handouts, readings from other courses, ideas gleaned from readings outside the class through independent research) into his or her written assignments. Students are expected to use and cite primary (as opposed to secondary sources like textbooks) when writing any kind of paper in this class. Also, because of this emphasis on professional writing skills, students are expected to follow the rules of good grammar, syntax, punctuation, spelling, under APA guidelines.

Class Schedule

January 15th Course Introduction/ Critical thinking

22nd Smart chapter 1 Defining Disability/ video and Martha’s Vineyard

Understanding qualitative research/ Nacirema

29th Smart chapter 2 Models of Disability/ video person first

How qualitative research is tied to RC/reflective practice

February 5th Smart chapter 3 Sources of Prejudice/Spread & self in perspective (activity)

Developing qualitative question/

Discussion of proposal outline

12th Smart chapter 4 Sources of Prejudice /

Types of qualitative research, document analysis—print media /

Proposal outline due

19th Smart chapter 5 Effects of Prejudice/contact theory, heroes, simulation

Qualitative data collection

26th Smart chapter 6 Experiencing Prejudice

Qualitative analysis, developing themes and claims

Toy or card store Observation due—part of your portfolio /

March 5th No Class Spring Break

12th Smart chapter 7 Individual Response to Disability

My Lobotomy

19th Smart chapter 8 Onset of Disability/alternative fix, video

26th Draft of proposal, group discussion & where to go from here

April 1st Smart chapter 9 Other Factors of Disability/ Marketing a disability

Portfolio due

9th Murder Ball video

Service Learning proposal due

16th Mad in America TBD

Service Learning Project due

23rd Service Learning due & debriefing of service learning project

30th Class To Be Determined

Syllabus is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor

Attendance

As a matter of policy, there is only one excused or unexcused absence. Any additional absences will result in a reduction of attendance points. Three missed classes will result in one full letter grade reduction. Four missed classes will result in a failing grade for the course. In the same vein, students are expected to be on time and should remain in class for the entire session.

Professional Behavior

It is recognized that many students are employed, have families, and are continuing their education. While understanding this, the first priority of the university is to assure that each student leaves this program with the knowledge and skills required of a graduate level rehabilitation counselor. These skills are essential for future employment and are expected by future clients.

In addition, most professionals in this field are expected to develop and maintain networks of resources to assist in providing quality services. This development should begin during the educational process and can involve developing peer groups/study groups with fellow students/colleagues.

To assist with professional development, course expectations include:

• Attendance and punctuality that is consistent with class requirements.

• Submitting all work/assignments at scheduled times.

• Participation in class events/discussions that reflects professional behavior (i.e. showing respect for fellow students and instructors, being attentive, etc.).

• Using APA writing standards and proper grammar on all assignments.

• Maintaining a professional standard for all written and oral assignments.

Academic Integrity

The University has a responsibility to promote academic honesty and integrity and to develop procedures to deal effectively with instances of academic dishonesty. Students are responsible for the honest completion and representation of their work, for the appropriate citation of sources, and for respect for others’ academic endeavors. By placing their name on academic work, students certify the originality of all work not otherwise identified by appropriate acknowledgments.

Instructor Evaluation

The instructor and course will be evaluated at the end of the term by students through the use of a standard evaluation instrument. Each evaluation will cover the quality and relevance of course material and the quality of instruction.  The intent is to seek information which will help to improve both the quality of the course and instructional competence.  In completing these evaluations, the each student should be mindful of the extent to which the course objectives have been met.

Disabilities/Special Accommodations

Maryville University believes that all members of our community are enriched by an education that encourages and supports diversity in regards to culture and disability. Students in this course are invited to examine issues from a multicultural perspective and from the viewpoint of the individual with disabilities.

In addition to the above, students with disabilities have a right to participate in or benefit from programs offered at Maryville University. The University is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities. Please inform your professor in the beginning of your class in regards to disability related needs. Your professor and you can then discuss what reasonable accommodations are most appropriate.

Campus Support Services

Academic Success Center--Gander 101, 314-529-9228

Personal counseling— Jennifer Henry, Mouton Hall, 314-529-9552

Code of Ethics

The Code of Ethics for Rehabilitation Counselors provides guidelines for an appropriate standard of practice for the professional rehabilitation counselor. Each student is expected to act in ways that are consistent to these standards. This includes confidentiality.

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